And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast:
Parallel translations
- WEB Now there were certain Greeks among those that went up to worship at the feast.
- BSB Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast.
- NKJV Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.
- NASB Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast;
- NLT Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Certain Greeks among the festival worshipers appear. Their presence signals the gospel reaching beyond Israel.
Overview
These Greeks, likely Gentile God-fearers attending Passover, introduce a turning point. Their desire to see Jesus echoes the Pharisees' words that the world is going after him. The episode anticipates the inclusion of the nations through Jesus' death, the gathering of God's scattered children.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- John 7:35Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?
- Isa 11:10And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
- Acts 17:4And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
- 1 Kgs 8:41–43Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name’s sake;
- Acts 8:27And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,
- Mark 7:26The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.
- Gal 2:3But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:
- Isa 60:2–14For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
- Acts 14:1And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
- Acts 20:21Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Acts 16:1Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:
- Acts 21:28Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.
- Rom 10:12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
- Gal 3:28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
- Col 3:11Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
- Rom 1:16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
- Isa 66:19–21And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 12:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.